the tables TABLE State and by type of organization, which supplied the information contained in the tables. The total number of schools (column 2) represents 46 percent of all public high schools in the continental United States. The 1,505 junior high schools (column 3) constitute 57 percent of all public junior high schools. The 6,053 regular and senior high schools (column 4) are 41 percent of all regular and senior high schools. The 3,367 junior-senior and undivided high schools (column 5) make up 53 percent of all junior-senior and undivided high schools. To ascertain the percentage of the number of schools reporting in relation to the number of all schools by State, refer to Statistics of Public High Schools, 1945–46.10 In table 3 the percentage of public secondary day schools having an activity period within the daily time schedule, by size of school, type of organization, and minutes per week devoted to activity period or periods, is given. The number of responding schools at each size level constitutes the 100 percent base from which percentages are figured. Column 4 of table 3 indicates that two out of three public secondary day schools schedule an activity period. Slightly more junior-senior and undivided high schools have activity periods than do the schools in either of the other types of organization. As size of school in all types of organization increases, the activity period appears less widely used, possibly because bus-transportation schedules in the smaller schools favor employment of the activity period. Nevertheless, in the 500-999 enrollment range, considerably more than half of the schools responding report that they schedule an activity period. Only in the larger high schools does the number reporting no activity period amount to more than 50 percent of all schools. The data in table 4 show the percentage of secondary day schools scheduling an activity period, by State and by length of period in minutes per week. Of all schools using the activity period, the minutes-per-week interval of 25-74 shows the greatest frequency, followed in order by the 125-174 and 225-274 intervals. According to the information by State, public high schools in Mississippi, South Dakota, North Carolina, Kansas, and Oklahoma, respectively, report the highest percent of schools using Excludes the 234 high schools enrolling fewer than 10 pupils and the 133 ungraded high schools. 10 Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, Chapter V. Washington, U. S. Government Printing Office, 1949. Table 10, p. 40-41. the activity period. In order of highest percent not having the activity period, Utah, Rhode Island, and California rank in that order. Thus, the Nation-wide range, by State, for secondary schools using the activity period is from 88.53 percent (Mississippi) to 32.93 percent (Utah). The reasons for the prevalence of the use of the activity period in high schools in particular States may be difficult to establish; it is doubtful if any one factor is all-important. Within the space of this brief publication it is possible only to indicate some of these factors. Size of school.-The data show that use of activity period is related closely to size of school. It is natural that the States whose high schools lead in the use of the activity period should have large numbers of schools of relatively small enrollments. At the same time, table 4 indicates that the States in which high schools use the activity period least are not all populous States in which large high schools are numerous. An important finding of this study is that 40 percent of the larger high schools (1,000 and more enrollment) employ the activity period. Bus transportation.-When pupils are unavailable for before-school and after-school activities because of the necessity for meeting bus schedules, the high school faces the choice of providing an activity period within the daily time schedule or adopting a core-program approach or offering a much restricted program of activities for those pupils who can attend. In hundreds of cases the schools that have faced this choice have decided in favor of an activity period. Doubtless this explains why so many of the smaller and rural high schools have had activity periods for a considerable period of time. Emphasis by State department of education or university professors of education. The work of professional personnel in State departments, universities, and teachers colleges in particular States and regions has contributed greatly to the development of the activity period idea. An illustration of emphasis at the State department level is found in the Mississippi School Bulletin No. 129.11 Extent of provision for activities in the community.-The activity period is more likely to flourish in high schools in communities where widespread recreation facilities are not available. Conversely, in areas where such facilities are provided generously, there may be less of a tendency for the activity period to be adopted. To some degree, the school activities and the out-of-school activities compete for the attention of the pupils in those communities. The preceding factors refer to the differences in the prevalence of the activity period in high schools, by State. The over-all reasons for the adoption of the activity period to serve all pupils within the school and to apply the total resources of school staff to the activity program— prevail as major factors on a Nation-wide basis. 11 State Department of Education, Jackson, Miss., September 1949. pp. 6-42. Tables 3 and 4 are arranged for ready reference and, when used in connection with Statistics of Public High Schools,12 provide opportunity for comparison of the data between States, by type of high-school organization, size of enrollment, and length of activity period. TABLE 2.-Number of public secondary day schools responding, by State and by type of organization |